Newbee and Evil Geniuses emerged as the winners from their respective matches in Day 1 of the ESL One Genting 2018 Playoffs. Though the results were not far off from the prediction, what came off as a shock was how they won. Case in point, Newbee eliminated ViCi Gaming in a 2-0 rout that no one probably saw coming. The same goes for Evil Geniuses and their show of force against Virtus Pro, which helped extend their winning streak against Virtus Pro to 10 straight series wins.

The supports have been phenomenal so far for both teams in the playoffs. Hu ‘Kaka‘ Liangzhi came up big for Newbee in both games against ViCi Gaming and was a huge part of their win. Rasmus ‘Misery‘ Filipsen too played a huge role in Evil Geniuses’ “upset” of Virtus Pro; his play on Pudge in Game 1 and Bounty Hunter in Game 2 were prime examples of how you can still make a lot of impact on the map without needing much farm.

With the win, Evil Geniuses and Newbee have now secured a Top 4 finish. Both teams will now move on to the semifinals of the ESL One Genting 2018 Playoffs, where Team Liquid and Team Secret are waiting.

Team Secret vs Newbee (1500H / 3:00 PM MYT)

Our DOTA team gearing up for the ESL One Genting semi-finals against Newbee tomorrow – lend us your energy!

Last season, Team Secret vs Newbee barely played against each other. But, since the introduction of the Dota Pro Circuit, both teams have met four times over the course of the past six months, and each time Team Secret went home with the win. Though the meta have changed, if ever so slightly, since these two teams met at the DreamLeague Major, Team Secret have also only arguably gotten better since, which certainly doesn’t bode well for Newbee’s chances.

Against other top Dota 2 teams, Team Secret have emerged as the winners more often than not this season, and given that they have yet to drop a single game so far throughout the tournament, it’s safe to say that they’ve got this one in the bag.

Team Liquid vs Evil Geniuses (1700H / 5:20 PM MYT)

Evil Geniuses have gotten over the hump and proven that their latest lineup works. Syed Sumail ‘SumaiL‘ Hassan in the offlane is just as prolific as he was in the middle lane, and with Clinton ‘Fear‘ Loomis looking like the Fear of old (no pun intended), Evil Geniuses have the versatility to switch up their lanes when necessary to confuse their opponents. Unfortunately, as good as they have looked so far, this is where it all ends; Team Liquid are arguably the originators of the same strategy that Evil Geniuses are currently trying to master.

Lest we forget, Team Liquid won TI7 by keeping opposing teams guessing of which of their cores are going to which lanes. This is a strategy they’re all too familiar with and so far, Team Secret are the only ones who’ve beaten them using it.

There’s no doubt that Evil Geniuses have the talent and skill to keep things close. In fact, against any other Dota 2 team (save for Team Secret), the boys in blue will be the heavy favourites to win. Especially with how good they’ve looked thus far. However, this is the reigining TI champions we’re talking about, and given how they’ve won against Evil Geniuses every time they’ve met in the past two years, it’d be foolish to not pick them to win in this series.

The ESL One Genting 2018 Playoffs

So far, we’re 2-0 in our predictions for the main event and 7-4 overall in our predictions throughout the whole tournament. Let’s see if we can improve that to 9-4 tomorrow in Day 2 of the ESL One Genting 2018 Playoffs.

Keep in mind that athough these decisions have been made after thorough research, they are not 100% correct. We are not liable for any financial losses resulting from following our advice.

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